


Devestating Delusions

by SilverTonguedSlytherin1



Series: Letters to and from an International Fugitive [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, Not Clint Barton Friendly, Not Clint Friendly, Not Natasha Friendly, Not Natasha Romanov Friendly, Not Sam Wilson Friendly, Not Sam friendly, Not Steve Friendly, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Not Wanda Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Steve Is Delusional, not team Cap friendly, not wanda maximoff friendly, team cap is delusional
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:53:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23943421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverTonguedSlytherin1/pseuds/SilverTonguedSlytherin1
Summary: Pepper responded to Steve's letter to Tony, and her reply has caused more than one issue.
Series: Letters to and from an International Fugitive [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710490
Comments: 71
Kudos: 693
Collections: Tony Stark Defense Squad I





	Devestating Delusions

**Author's Note:**

> As stated in the tags, this fic is not friendly to Team Crap and its members. If this offends or upsets you, please find a different fic. The comments are moderated, so trolling is blocked. Thank you for understanding.

The letter from Pepper is crushed and wrinkled, the creases refusing to fully straighten no matter how many times they attempt to smooth it. It had angered Sam to read. It had angered all of them to read. How dare she try to pin everything on Steve? Did she really think some sad excuse for a strawman would turn his team against him? Pathetic.

Still, Sam can't shake his concern for Rhodes. The other man was an uppity member of the brass who had never worked for anything, never been a real soldier. He was snot-nosed sidekick who rode his billionaire buddy's coattails to an easy career. But Sam is a good soldier, and he can't help but worry. Rhodes was the enemy in that confrontation, but he was still an Airman under all that pomp and bull. He needs to know how Rhodes is.

Getting paper and a pen in Wakanda is funny. Sam always expects some sort of high-tech paper that you just think at and the words appear or a pen that writes on air. No, it's just a regular, comforting pen and a piece of paper from any printer in the world. 

He hesitates before writing. Should he be formal, address Rhodes by his rank? But, no, he can't. If Sam gives an inch like that, they'll try to make him bend over further and grovel. Besides, Sam isn't writing anything official. And anyway, he's not like Stark. He's not going to hide behind pageantry and politeness. He's going to be upfront and real. If Rhodes is a real soldier, a real man, he'll respect it.

That decided, he writes in neat, blocky letters:

_Hey Rhodey,_

_I'm sorry about your fall, man. How're you doing? Stark said you and he were staying at the Compound while you did PT, but he didn't say anything about how you're actually doing. Cap tried to ask about you, but Potts wouldn't tell him anything either, acted like she couldn't, even though we're teammates._

_Hope your alright,_  
_Sam_

There, that'll do it. And maybe knowing that Stark and Potts are withholding information from the team will wise up the Colonel.

~*~

Wanda hates Tony Stark. The man took everything from her and who knows how many others. But he never pays for any of the pain he caused. He just sits in his tower with his money while people fall over themselves to worship him. She hates him, and nothing will ever stop that.

She loves Vision, though, despite the fact that Stark helped create him. She loves Viz, and she would never hurt him. How dare Stark's little secretary accuse her of assault?! What kind of lies are they feeding him? Wanda needs to talk to Vision, now. She has to explain that it was just a misunderstanding.

It takes her several tries to write the thing. She has barely written in the past sixteen years since her parents died, so her handwriting is shaky and sometimes illegible to herself. It makes her angry, and she already is anyway, so her magic rips apart more than one letter:

_Viz,_

_How are you doing? I'm sorry if I hurt you. It was an accident. Stark was making you hold me prisoner. You would have kept me from helping Cap. You understand, don't you?_

_I love you, Viz,_  
_Wanda_

She seals it with a kiss, even though she and Viz haven't had a real one yet. 

~*~

Clint paces. Damn it! If you listen to Potts, Stark was respecting him, his retirement. And Clint knows that's not true. Stark just saw him as deadweight, that's all. He just didn't think about how Clint could help him.

But Clint sees what Potts is trying to do. And it's not what Sam thinks. They don't have access to the news right now, but Clint is sure that Stark is pulling all of the media's strings. They're painting a picture of Stark as the reasonable, reliable, respectful leader. They'll leave out half of the story, Cap's half, but since nobody is there to fill in the blanks, the media will. Stark is their darling; even when they crucify him, they make him into a god among men. Even if a few throw stones and break a few of Stark's bones, those same outlets will build him back stronger. 

Fuck.

He doesn't have enough information to act. He doesn't have anything to give Cap. Clint runs his hand through his hair and goes to the computer, going through several proxies until he's relatively secure. He types his message quickly, not changing from the default settings:

_Hill,_

_Intel request regarding Stark and Accords. Team's physical status is sound, but mental and emotional status is dropping. Location is compromised._

_Barton_

He does not send it, so it can't be traced. Instead, it sits in the drafts. Hill will check and send a reply the same way.

~*~

Natasha is compromised. She's not sure how long she's been compromised, but she is. She blinded herself with that stupid false psych eval, forgetting who Stark was, what he could do, and then she let herself be fooled by American propaganda, didn't notice that their great hero was nothing more than a glorified meat head. She leans her head back against the wall and groans. Natasha is the Black Widow; how did she fail so badly?

She has to play this right. Stark lost in Siberia, sure, but he's been winning the war since then. If Natasha can make her case that it was the plan all along, she can persuade him to let her back into his fold - and his protection.

The words don't flow right on the paper, though, no matter how many times she tries to write them. Of all the times for her silver-tongue to turn to lead, it has to be when she's facing a lifetime on the run, in prison, or the death penalty. Maybe it's best to let Rogers wear down Stark, so Natasha can claim to have been trying to keep Rogers from mounting an assault? It would be tricky, but she could do it, given time.

~*~

Steve is furious. He understands that Pepper is just standing beside her fella, but she doesn't have to be so rude. She doesn't have to go so far to shove everything in Steve's face. It took him an hour to read that letter with her convoluted letters. 

He needs to talk about what she said, but he has to say shouldn't be said in front of a woman, even one like Pepper. And anyway, Steve needs to have words with Tony about sending his gal to fight his battles. He had thought Tony was above that.

The pen breaks through the paper a few times as Steve writes, but he doesn't try to rewrite it. It's still easier to read than that mess she sent.

_Tony,_

_What kind of man are you, letting a woman fight instead of you? You should be ashamed. It's your job to protect her. If you can't do even that, though, you should at least know better than to get her involved in your troubles._

_We need to address the lack of respect as well. Pepper called me "Mister" instead of "Captain." Now, I want to make it clear that she's more than welcome to call me Steve, but if she's going to play at formality, she should at least get it right._

_Sam is writing Rhodey to ask about his condition, since you won't tell us. I mean, really, Tony? You're hiding behind formalities to keep from telling us about a teammate. We're his family, and family has a right to know._

_Tony, Pepper is making some wild accusations about assault and abuse. You need to rethink this. I don't want to make trouble for her, but I won't let someone lie about me or the others. Wanda is really upset that Vision got hurt._

_While we're on the subject of Wanda, you and Pepper owe her an apology. She's not a terrorist or a villain. This is what I mean when I say you won't even listen. It doesn't matter if you listen to other big-wigs if you don't listen to the little guy. That's your problem more than anything. You listen to scientists and politicians with fancy titles, but you ignore people like Wanda whose voice doesn't have any power behind it._

_I won't hold what Pepper said about Bucky and Howard against you because I don't think you know. But I won't tolerate such disrespect again. Bucky is innocent, and Howard was our friend. You need to realize and respect that._

_Tony, be reasonable. If you hadn't pushed the Accords, if you hadn't played guard dog for Ross, I wouldn't have had to call in everybody. You forced my hand._

_Why must you be so wasteful, Tony? Well, I'm not sending another phone. If you want to contact me, you'll have to send a way._

_Steve_

He looks at the letter, and something feels off. Tony loves tech. He treats it like it's alive half the time. Why would he let some kid destroy it?

Oh. Oh, God. Of course. 

How had he missed it?

Pepper must be abusing Tony. It's why she was so quick to accuse Steve and the others of doing so. And of course she wouldn't want him to have an unmonitored way to contact Steve. Of course. But how? It's not like Tony is weak, and he's all over the papers and TV. Someone would have noticed...

Unless, what if the government knew? Steve knows Tony. He's misguided, but he means well. He just needs a firm hand is all. But the government was used to Tony building them weapons, and they were mad when he stopped. And Pepper, well, apparently she had been against quitting immediately, despite what Tony had learned, because of the money. She's the CEO; she could make Tony design weapons, and where would he have to go if he left? It's like Afghanistan, where he escaped and got to come home.

Christ, All Mighty. What had they left Tony in?

Steve has to talk to T'Challa. Once the King understood, he would help them rescue Tony. It would be good. Tony would love it here, and Steve bet that Shurri would happily take him on as an assistant. That would be the best. Tony could create, and someone would keep an eye on him, make sure he stayed humble and didn't go too far.

His stomach rolls at the idea, but Steve knows he has to send the letter anyway, unless Pepper gets suspicious. Steve can only hope it doesn't cause Tony too much trouble. 

**Author's Note:**

> Writing this fic was weird. I wanted to punch things, but also wanted to set the characters down with some sort of AI, so they could be patiently spoon-fed common sense. I'm not sure if everyone is in character, but their mindsets are so weird, I honestly don't know what they're thinking.
> 
> That ending came out of left field and ploughed right over me, but I think it fits this delusional Rogers.


End file.
